Social Learning Blog

A Little About Mobile Learning and How to Administer It

Depending on who you talk to, mobile learning lately seems to be either the hottest new trend, or an implementation nightmare.

The technologists and learning theorists have been extolling the virtues of training that is accessed at anytime and anywhere via mobile devices, for years now. At the same time, instructional designers and corporate training departments see it as an administrative headache that isn’t worth the expense of the massive infrastructure changes that would be involved.

First off, mobile learning, or mLearning, is driven by the fact that learners need no longer be tied to a desk when they are consuming training. The proliferation of hand-held devices that are connected to high-speed networks has highlighted both the demand and the viability of mLearning. There are special considerations however, that need to be accounted for when designing training programs for mobile devices. For one thing, the small screen-size on most hand-held devices means that our current web-based training can’t simply be re-purposed for mobile. In addition, most learners using a mobile device have small chunks of time to spend consuming training, so smaller modules must be designed.

Another challenge, and the one that is most important to those responsible for assuring that training is delivered effectively, is the administration of mLearning programs. When learners are accessing training in the midst of their busy day, interruptions and distractions often occur. Tracking which modules were successfully completed can be difficult. In addition, since the lessons are broken up into bite-sized pieces, there are far more individual components to serve up in any one training lesson. Finally, keeping the computer-based and mobile-based learning modules both separate and current is an extra layer of complexity.

But what if there was an easy solution?

The old style of Learning Management Systems (LMS) just won’t cut it when it comes to administering an mLearning program. What is needed is a customizable Social LMS that is designed to handle the needs of the learner using any device with a full web browser anywhere in the world.

TOPYX® Social LMS is one such system that can handle any aspect of training administration, including providing access to mobile learning. It is also very easy to use, manage and administer. It is rumored that with TOPYX there are even more mobile enhancements that will be made available in the very near future to provide a superior mLearning experience for all users and administrators. You will have to stay tuned to learn more (follow on Facebook).

But perhaps best of all, there is no massive infrastructure investment required, since TOPYX is a cloud-based LMS that is both flexible and completely secure. It contains all of the features of an enterprise capable system, yet is mobile ready and at a fraction of the cost.

Incorporating tablets and other mobile devices that break the chains of the traditional office space with continue to gain popularity. If the future of corporate training includes mLearning, then the future of training administration and management needs a system like TOPYX. To find out how the LMS of the future can help your organization today, click here.

Remember, it’s never too soon to start preparing your training department for the future of eLearning.